Colorado Avalanche defenseman Stefan Elliott passes the puck during the first period of their NHL hockey game against the Los Angeles Kings, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

DALLAS — Among the fans at least, there was hope that Stefan Elliott would bypass some of the learning curve of being a top NHL defenseman, that his ascension to one would be more of a straight line. Nope.

The young Avalanche defender is experiencing the same ups and downs that befall most in his situation. This season, his second in pro hockey, has been filled with more downs than ups.

After a big buildup coming out of junior and a reasonably good first pro season split between the Avalanche and the Lake Erie Monsters, Elliott got off to a horrible start with the Monsters and hasn’t made much of an impact so far in his stints with the Avs.

But nobody is ready to give up on the talented 22-year-old, selected in the second round of the 2009 NHL draft by the Avs. Least of all Elliott himself.

“It’s been a little bit of a rough year for me,” said Elliott, whose strong career with the Saskatoon Blades made him the team’s all-time leading scorer among defensemen. “Especially points-wise, it has been. But I finally got out of that a little bit, started to play a little better.”

Entering Saturday’s game against the Dallas Stars, Elliott had played six for Colorado this season and was still looking for his first point. He also was a minus-5. He had a couple of bad games with the Avs before his last demotion to Lake Erie, including one in Detroit where he committed two glaring giveaways. He was recalled by the team last week, when Ryan Wilson went back on injured reserve with ankle problems and Tyson Barrie — who otherwise might have been the first defender called up — suffered a slight hip injury.

Elliott played well enough against Dallas on Wednesday to earn another start, with coach Joe Sacco saying he “looked more comfortable as the game went on, and did some good things.”

Elliott was the MVP in the Western Hockey League for the 2010-11 season, posting 81 points in 71 games and an amazing plus-62. Elliott was on the preseason list of several pundits for the Calder Trophy last season, but he wound up playing only 39 games for the Avs, with four goals, 13 points and a plus-2. Not bad, but no Calder season.

Footnotes. David Jones and Jamie McGinn were back in the lineup for the Avalanche after being healthy scratches Wednesday. Milan Hejduk got a night off, but could play Sunday against Vancouver. … Greg Zanon was a healthy scratch on defense, with Shane O’Brien returning to the rotation.

Rockies all-star shortstop crushed his 100th career homer against the Orioles Friday night at Coors Field. The blast was a mammoth shot that had some history behind it as Story is now the fasted shortstop on MLB history to 100 home runs.